My 10 month old is a WONDERFUL napper-2x/day for 1-2 hours each nap. He goes down awake and soothes himself to sleep. At night, he goes down just as easily between 6:15 and 7pm. He is a happy, happy baby who appears well-rested throughout the day. He eats well, engages well, etc. He has slept through the night on occasion, and sometimes he awakens once. BUT most of the time he awakens twice! That's my issue.
Sometimes he moans and falls back to sleep on his own during the night, but usually twice he benefits from me going in to nurse him back to sleep (he is actively eating, not just suckling. Btw, he eats loads of food duuring the day and nurses well too. He's a big guy). He then easily and blissfully returns to sleep within 10 minutes. I am usually awake for most of the night after that :(
I guess my question is this: do I change anything? He is absolutely healthy and happy-not cranky at all (but I am, lol).
Are some babies just programmed to need things at night for longer periods? Really, he sleeps for a 6-7 hour stretch before waking the first time. I've tried putting him down later, but he awakens with the same frequency (sometimes even more). He's doing great.
I am tired, but if he will just outgrow this need eventually, I'll leave it as is. Btw, we have a toddler who outgrew this pattern by 6 months and is a wonderful sleeper. Thoughts?
I found that my going into my son's room was "disruptive". I stopped going in there and it almost stopped immediately (I have a video monitor so I could see that he was alright). The first time it took up to almost an hour for him to fall back asleep but he wasn't crying just fussing a little and playing. My son sleeps from 7 pm to 7 am and naps twice around 10:30 am and 2:30 pm for reference.
I know how precious Bfing is, but at 10 months, my son was exhausting me and I too needed the sleep. He was not sleeping through the night either. I finally decided to try a small bottle of formula (about 4 ounces) after bfing. He finally started sleeping through the night. We were sure to nurse first though and honestly, some nights he took less than the 4 ounces, so I was happy about that. I think ultimately though the formula stays in their tummies longer.
The reason I decided to try formula was because my parents weened my daughter off of night feedings at six months (we had to go on a destination wedding in VT) and they did it with formula. Being the grandparents, they were not about to rush downstairs at midnight or 2 Am or whenever to heat up the breastmilk I had left for them to use so they kept a few powdered bottles upstairs near the baby. I think she decided she did not like the taste and gave up on night feedings completely. Honestly, what happened those 5 days and 4 nights is still a mystery to me, but she seems no worse for the wear :-)
The decision is really up to you, but for us, with a third in the oven, I really needed to get the sleep so we went for the formula. The other nice thing is now Daddy can help wrap up the nighttime routine by passing off baby and the bottle to him. :-)
Good luck.
~C.
Hi M.,
I wouldn't change HIS routine...but since you're missing out on sleep, I would suggest that you nap when he does, if at all possible.
He'll outgrow this soon enough. Ten months is nothing. I had three kids in under four years and didn't get a good night's sleep for five years. But I sure napped when they did! ;)
Good luck...stay rested!
"Grams"
from the Pocono Mts. of PA
I guess he's just waking up to be nursed then? I quit the nighttime feeding for my daughter (who's now 9 months) at 5 months old...took a few nights of going into the room to soothe her when she'd wake up for it, but she's slept thru the night ever since. If he's getting tons of solids during the day and nursing enough, he should be able to go without that nighttime feeding just fine. He's only waking up out of habit by this age.
It's hard to say when they will "grow out of it." If you keep nursing him he wakes up, he may just keep waking up for it, for as long as possible. I have a friend who is still getting up to nurse her 18 month old and she's very tired. Yikes.
Lynsey
This describes the exact same situation in my house, except that my little guy is almost a year old and my oldest outgrew it at 4 months. My little guy had ear infections for months on end, which finally resolved with tubes but he still wakes up once or twice a night. He's been teething for months now, which I'm sure plays a role in it. Ultimately, I think that initially he woke up for the above reasons, and after a while it just turned into routine/habit. Does he ever fall back asleep without eating? If so, then it would seem that he may be nursing for comfort and not because he's hungry. Another possible difference for me is that I let my oldest cry it out, but I don't do that in the middle of the night with my baby because he is L-O-U-D and I am afraid that he will wake up the rest of the house. I definitely believe that all babies are different and that just because you have one good sleeper it doesn't necessarily mean you will have another. Sounds like you are doing/trying all the right things. Hang in there--hopefully it will turn around for you soon!!
My daughter was like this until about 18-20 months. My first 3 were great sleepers by the time they were 8 months. Now my daughter might wake up but usually goes right back to sleep. She does not nap and hasn't since about 16 months or so unless we get up really early to do something.
Sleep is a habit. He wakes because it's a habit. I have an 8 month old that is waking too. Soon I am going to offer him water. It worked with my daughter.
Some babies naturally out growth it, others put up a fight and will continue to wake until you break them of the habit.
